NemZ wrote:You just couldn't resist the passage about purple hair, could you?

You caught me purple-handed! The bit about Misato dying it black was definitely inspired by ... that. I kind of like it, though. Bit of a series in-joke, given a certain other character who did change her hair color in a failed attempt to escape a famous parent's shadow.

felineki wrote:The pillow-biting line just came across as judgmental stereotyping on the part of Tatsuta, so I wasn't expecting this. But maybe that's just me being oblivious.

That's definitely the most obvious way to read the line, given the current level of reader knowledge.

Something I wanted to incorporate in earlier chapters was campus rumors of Akira being a closeted gay. I couldn't figure out a way to do this that didn't feel forced, but maybe upon rewrites I will. Getting any more direct with the foreshadowing wouldn't work, far as I can see, since Akira himself has kept a very tight cork on certain aspects of his identity* for nearly half his life. That's about all I should say on the matter until next chapter...

* (Yes, I'm intentionally avoiding a label for the time being.)

Speaking of, I've provided a much less half-assed "NEXT TIME". What's with that chapter title? I have no idea if I'm going to actually use it, but it sure is mysterious!

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

I've only read some excerpts of your story and boy, how fun those where! I really don't have nothing to say other than it's fun given seeing you expand on Kyoko and Langley's background. She seems rather playful and flirtatious and he is quite the Yankee/American. For some reason, it's kinda hard for me to sympathize with Akira. Something in me says "Boy what a loser/weakling he is" despite his good looks and fancy credentials. I have no idea why is that. All I know is I find myself hoping Sayaka just dumps/divorces him and takes custody of Misato and get the hell away from him as far as possible. Honestly, I can't figure out what is it about him that I dislike. All the other characters are good.

Rei IV wrote:Something in me says "Boy what a loser/weakling he is" despite his good looks and fancy credentials.

And he'd probably agree with you, too!

Why only "excerpts", out of curiosity? The protagonist would probably make more sense if you read the whole thing. He's doomed to be divisive and all, but at least give the poor man a fair hearing!

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Reichu wrote:Why only "excerpts", out of curiosity? The protagonist would probably make more sense if you read the whole thing. He's doomed to be divisive and all, but at least give the poor man a fair hearing!

Because I wanted to make sure if I was reading an actual story that attempted to fit with the NGE narrative or a parody of some sort. Luckily, it reads as if Anno himself wrote it.....Or plagiarized a Western fan's fanfiction and then claimed it as his own.

I'll get to reading the entire thing, eventually. It is interesting stuff.

Rei IV wrote:Because I wanted to make sure if I was reading an actual story that attempted to fit with the NGE narrative or a parody of some sort.

Parody, eh? I guess it must've been the unofficial subtitle ("How Misato's Dad Found God") that gave that vibe? I think that was something I came up with on the cuff since Crying Man alone is so vague. Tis a bit tongue-in-cheek, but no less appropriate to what will eventually happen...

Luckily, it reads as if Anno himself wrote it.....[snip] It is interesting stuff.

Very high praise! Thank you. I look forward to your more detailed impressions.

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

General Bulletin: I don't expect the next chapter to arrive until the middle of next month at the earliest. The biggest reason is that I'm in the midst of a major life transition (moving out of my parents' house!). The other is that I still have a lot of written notes and drafts relevant to the upcoming arc which need to be typed up. Even alternating between typing and dictation, it's rather time-consuming.

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Aww, that's sweet of you to ask. That was a pretty lousy spot to get interrupted, and I've been often wondering myself just when the heck I'll be able to revisit the story. I've been dealing with a major life transition since September, i.e. moving into an apartment with my boyfriend. Definitely jerks one out of fictional head-spaces. And just when I thought I was starting to settle in, I get this sinus infection that won't go away. Hopefully this 10-day round of antibiotics will kill it for good, but until then I'm not going to be doing much. Though, maybe there's no better time to start writing again than while I'm reeling from the side effects of prokaryote killers...

(N.B. It's just "Crying Man", with no articles. Is this actually important? I dunno. Maybe.)

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Understandable. I just hope at some point will be able to see what happens between to Akira and Sayaka. Will she put up with him? Will she leave him? Will Misato register disgust at the entire situation if she finds out? Oh well, hope you get better soon and Take Care of Yourself.

Rei IV wrote:I just hope at some point will be able to see what happens between to Akira and Sayaka. Will she put up with him? Will she leave him? Will Misato register disgust at the entire situation if she finds out?

I can tell that you're going to enjoy where the story goes from here.

Having caught up to the latest chapter (it would seem), I get the sense that your sympathies are still firmly in the Sayaka and Misato camp and the Akira character continues to repulse you. Fair enough if it does, since I anticipated that he'd be divisive. I do take interest in your reaction, "Boy what a loser/weakling he is", since, well, doesn't it remind you of common reactions to somebody else? And Akira functions as an "adult Shinji" in many ways, so possibly not coincidence. I'll be interested in seeing if your impressions get worse or better the more we learn about how Akira ticks. Could go either way, really...

Anyway, my health is more or less back to baseline, and I have a desk now, which means I can begin work on CM again! I anticipate I'll re-read the story from the beginning to get myself back in the right head space, and probably fix up the early chapters so I can start crossposting CM at AO3 and fanfic.org. After that, next chapter should come easy. Things are about to get fun, not to mention... messy.

Real pity life had to interrupt me when it did, right after I wrote my way out of those sloggish "will he or won't he go manic...?" chapters. I mean, yeah, it WAS worth it and all, just the timing was unfortunate. And I would've enjoyed posting the 11/2/99 chapter (called "Birthday" for no particular reason) on the corresponding day this year. Shucks.

Last edited by Reichu on Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Reichu wrote:Having caught up to the latest chapter (it would seem), I get the sense that your sympathies are still firmly in the Sayaka and Misato camp and the Akira character continues to repulse you. Fair enough if it does, since despite I anticipated that he'd be divisive. I do take interest in your reaction, "Boy what a loser/weakling he is", since, well, doesn't it remind you of common reactions to somebody else? And Akira functions as an "adult Shinji" in many ways, so possibly not coincidence. I'll be interested in seeing if your impressions get worse or better the more we learn about how Akira ticks. Could go either way, really....

Touché.

But I like Shin-chan whereas Akira just rubs me the wrong way. I think it has more to do with the fact he has a wife and daughter and really isn't acting like a husband and father, at least that's my opinion. Who knows, maybe I'll have a change of heart. The implications of Akira being a closeted gay is interesting (or a closeted, repressed bisexual?) and if Eva where to follow your narrative/continuity, it would be interesting to see Misato's reaction/attitude to Shinji being "love-struck" with Kaworu as seen in some of the early drafts/proposals and her disapproving of that based on her experiences with her father and those rumors. She wouldn't want to even register the idea the only "man" in her life left is THAT.

Rei IV wrote:I think it has more to do with the fact he has a wife and daughter and really isn't acting like a husband and father, at least that's my opinion.

Him putting his family and personal reformation over his dream job doesn't count for anything?

The implications of Akira being a closeted gay is interesting (or a closeted, repressed bisexual?)

I ain't sayin' nothing.

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Reichu wrote:Him putting his family and personal reformation over his dream job doesn't count for anything?

Touché again. Maybe I'm being too hard on the sad, tall bastard and letting my personal bias get in the way of being impartial/objective. Hopefully you're proceeding chapters will be allow me to empathize with him and see where's he coming from!

I honestly expected Akira to be like Kaji or Kaworu, personality wise or with a certain "charisma".

Rei IV wrote:Maybe I'm being too hard on the sad, tall bastard and letting my personal bias get in the way of being impartial/objective. Hopefully you're proceeding chapters will be allow me to empathize with him and see where's he coming from!

I'd be very proud of myself if my writing accomplished that in future chapters! If you never warm up to him, that's of course fine, since different audience reactions is all part of the fun. Your interest in those whom Akira negatively impacts also means you should never get bored with the story.

I honestly expected Akira to be like Kaji or Kaworu, personality wise or with a certain "charisma".

Keep in mind that he is bipolar, and I don't think we've seen him in a full-on manic state yet... That's not much of a spoiler, I don't think, but I probably should shut up before I say much else here.

I went ahead and just re-read the last chapter, which was intense enough to pull me straight back into Story Mode. Soon as I pick up a new desk chair this evening, I'm going to sit the fuck down and write this thang, because, dammit, I want to see what happens next unfold too!

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Chapter 14 is finally underway! Since it's been so long since I've posted anything, I figured I would offer up a little something to whet the appetite...

SPOILER: Show

Chapter 14: Destrudo

“Hi, you've reached the voice mail of Haru Yakumo. I appreciate your call, but unfortunately cannot answer my phone at the moment. If you would leave your name, phone number, and a brief message after the beep, I'll be sure to respond as soon as possible.”

Akira disconnects instead. He already left a message on the Yakumos' answering machine and he doesn't feel like doing it again.

Why, Haru? he thinks, clicking his cell phone shut and seizing his head between his palms. Why are you always busy when I need you the most? It's more emotionally than objectively true. What happened almost ten years ago… It wasn't Haru's fault, but it definitely left a scar upon Akira's heart, one of many that continue to ache.

Frustration wells up within him, and a single tear drops onto the pile of test papers resting on the desk below. Akira quickly wipes his face with the back of his sleeve and sets the papers aside. He tried to put his mind to work as soon as he arrived, but it wasn't happening. He managed to make only a few marks before all of the dark thoughts completely throttled his mental processes. The chance of him getting any work done tonight, as he'd hoped, became exponentially low due to the outcome of the date. There's no real point in staying here. But the other option is going home, and that means… that means…

…facing her again.

His fingers dig deeper into his scalp. I don't know what to do. Haru would know, but I… I'm useless. He thinks he saw Yamagiri's light on when he came in, but he couldn't talk to his kouhai about this. They get along and all, but there's just no way. The only other person whom he might have been able to entrust with something so sensitive is Yura, but that level of comfort between them died years ago. He can't even really remember how, either. Most of his memories about her are quite fond. Did she start getting on his case about seeing a head shrink? That might've been it…

Is his circle of intimates really so small? That beyond Sayaka and Haru, there's no one to whom he can bare his soul? That can't be right. Can it?

He grits his teeth and thinks. How would a conversation with Haru probably go? Well, he'd have Akira explain the situation in embarrassing, painful detail. He'd ask Akira to reflect upon what both of them did wrong, whether to create the situation or subsequently mishandle it. Conversely, did either of them do anything right? After all they've been through, is this really the end of the world? What's the next step from here?

It's pretty easy to imagine the flow and overall outcome, though no substitute for the real thing. He needs to hear someone else tell him what he wants so desperately to believe: “Just go home to her and everything will be fine.”

He starts absentmindedly flipping through the tests, a pensive grimace on his face. The date was a disaster. All because of that stupid, misbegotten package… It's true, what was he thinking? For some reason, he thought everything would go fine, but instead Sayaka blew up at him, and he blew right back up at her, and then he had a breakdown of the sort he hasn't experienced in years. So many of his demons reawakening all at once and putting his soul over the hot coals to writhe in agony. Sayaka did nothing and said nothing until it had ended on its own. There was no reassuring touch. He remained curled in fetal position, and she seemed impossibly far away as she spoke:

“I'm so sorry, Akira. I want to help you more than anything. I hate seeing you like this. But…” A few seconds' pause. “I'm really confused and conflicted right now. Both of us probably need some space. I…” Another pause. “I can’t accept your gift. Not this moment. I want to, though. I really do want to understand you better. … Please, let me meditate on everything. I need time to think.”

After that, she collected her things, said farewell, and left. All too quickly, it seemed. In her wake, there was nothing but cold, stark silence and tear-soaked ambivalence.

He was glad she left. So then why did he also feel so bitter? Was it a feeling of abandonment? Betrayal? Resentment? He doesn't know. The sentiment is still as fire in his chest and he's no closer to putting a finger on it. Maybe it's just too hot to touch. Whatever it is, he doesn't trust it. He doesn't trust how it might make him act. But whether he ignores it or approaches it, it's going to affect him. And he can't stand that. He can't stand feeling like this. Not about her.

He feels like he'll burn up from the inside out if he doesn't do something. He needs a distraction. A real distraction.

Akira pulls out his box of contacts and promptly starts thumbing into TA. Quickly he finds it, the poor beat-up index card which never fails to instill a rush of nostalgic warmth.

Taro “Tako” Takanashi.*

The cartoon octopus on the reverse side, drawn by “Tako” himself, brings Akira back. Way back, to a time that had its obvious drawbacks, but overall was much more simple. When Akira was still figuring out who he was, and still had a gleaming, unknown future ahead of him. Before his own mind turned against him, and he could still rely on himself for almost everything.

Calling the States won't be cheap, but he doesn't care. He needs to hear a reassuring voice. Akira punches the number into his phone, and waits with bated breath. Please answer, please answer, please answer…

_______________________________________________* Taro's name came up as early as “Enter the Dragon” in what probably seemed like a throwaway moment. His nickname “Tako” was arrived at by replacing the masculine ending -ro with feminine -ko. (Tako also means “octopus”.)-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello?” asks a masculine, very American voice.

Akira frets, clutching his necklace to brace his nerves. He didn't expect someone else to pick up, but, now that he thinks about it, of course Tako would have at least one housemate. And there's no guarantee the man knows a word of Japanese. Akira's spoken English is lacking at best, and he has no real excuse given his age and profession. He has to know enough to get by here, though. He's sure of it. “H-hello,” he stutters in response. “I am looking for Taro Takanashi. Is he home?”

“May I ask who's calling?”

Akira takes a moment to parse what was said. “Akira Katsuragi. Old friend. From high school.”

Akira exhales a sigh of relief and relinquishes the death grip on his pendant. He's amazed he got through that. And Taro happens to be home now, too. With his luck, he was expecting to leave another message.

A couple of minutes later, a familiar voice appears on the other end. “Still there?”

“Yeah,” Akira says. “Yeah, I'm here.”

“He tells me, 'There's some German guy named Katz-something on the line for you.'” The voice is soft and effeminate, almost mistakable for a woman's in timbre. “'Says he knew you in high school.' And I'm all, 'We didn't have any German kids in high school…' Took me a second to figure it out!”

Akira chuckles. “Yeah, I have a German accent whenever I try to speak English. Better than a Japanese one, I suppose. Same language family at least. Speaking of accents, you sound like you're picking one up. I can just barely hear it.”

“I don't get to speak Japanese much nowadays. I mean, other Japanese folks aren't difficult to find, but with my lifestyle… our paths don't cross much.”

“Most of the time. When you were the one saying it…” A sly chortle. “...well, it was kind of special.”

“I suppose so,” Akira relents. “Tako, then. So, tell me.”

“Can't complain,” Taro says. “The States have been everything I hoped for. I even have a boyfriend now. Ryan, the guy who picked up the phone. We've been together for well over a year now.”

“Really, Tako?” Akira asks. “That's wonderful.” He feels a warmth, a slight flutter, in his chest.

“Plus I have a job I really enjoy. It’s doing hair and makeup for TV, so it’s about the most faggy thing you could imagine, but, well, I guess that's just the kind of person I am.”

“And there's nothing wrong with that,” Akira says. “Not everyone is going to fall to the sides of the bell curve in all things.”

“I wasn't always okay with it…” Taro murmurs. “I guess if anyone knows about that, it's you. But I’ve long gotten over all that self-loathing tripe. We like what we like. True passion should be embraced, no matter what it is.”

Akira isn’t sure he wants to touch that one. Too close to home…

As if sensing Akira's discomfort, Taro changes the subject. “And how are things going for you? I noticed that you published your thing back in April. Congratulations.”

“Thanks. It was nice to get that off my chest, even if almost no one will take it seriously.”

“Meaning,” Taro prods, “some people do?”

Akira sighs. “There's one organization that was impressed enough by it to offer me a job with them. But…” He simply trails off. There's nothing to discuss there, least of all with Taro. Well, he should give his old friend something, at least, even an incomplete truth. “I think I want to stay with teaching after all.”

“I see. And how's the family?” When Akira offers no immediate response, Taro follows up, “Or should I not ask?”

Akira thinks. Did he call Taro to get actual advice? Or did he call him as an escape? Now confronted with the option to bring that discussion up, he finds that he really doesn't want to. At least, not so early in the conversation. Something blunt and honest should suffice. “Mostly better than average. With some caveats.”

“Hmmm,” Taro hums knowingly. “Sounds complicated.”

“It is.”

“Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I probably wouldn't know what to tell you, besides.”

Akira's smile inverts promptly. “I suppose so. You… never would have been happy if you stayed here. And if we'd tried to make it work… You know I never could've…” He clutches the pendant once more, absentmindedly wringing it for any reassurance it might provide.

Akira tries to swallow the lump in his throat. “No, I haven't. There's been so much else to…… torture myself over…” The final words are barely audible. “I wish I could take refuge in the good things from the past, but there's so many bad things, too, that I usually just don't think about any of it.”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. But you should think about those good things, every so often.”

He feels almost ready to cry again and he's not really sure why. Saying the wrong thing now would bring it all falling down. He waits, hoping Taro has more to say.

And he does. “Even though I've at last accepted that everything happened in the only way it could… I do want you to know, Akira-kun, that I miss you. I still think about you. You turned my life around. Without you… If you weren't there for me back then, I really don't think I'd be sitting here right now.”

It's probably true. He was a different person back then, one actually capable of having a net positive effect on someone else. The notion feels utterly surreal. Intellectually, he knows he should feel good about what Taro is saying. So, then, why does he feel so sad? Swallowing his tears down again, he struggles out, “It was a very important time for me, too. I'll never forget it, either. I'm just… I can't help but feel regret that I couldn't be that person. That I couldn't make it work. You don't know how much I wanted to.”

“It's okay,” Taro says. “You are who you are, and I am who I am.” A long, wistful sigh. “I used to be nothing more than a pitiful mess of a queer, but now? I'm happy. I like the person I am. I just wish the man who helped me get here could have kept some of that happiness for himself.”

“Tako--” Akira starts.

“You might say things are 'better than average', but I can tell that nothing's changed. Not really.”

Akira stares sullenly into space for a moment. “You still think this was all a mistake, don't you?”

“Hearing about it on and off over the years…” Taro muses. “Akira-kun, you know there were warning signs early on. You thought you could persevere. I suppose you have, in one sense, but was it really worth it?”

“I-- I don't know. Does it really matter anymore?”

“I guess at this point, you can't imagine living any other way. But no matter how many mistakes you've made, Akira-kun, you haven't made any so terrible that you deserve to be miserable for the rest of your life.”

He's not sure he actually agrees — reap what you sow, no? — but trying to argue with Taro on this point would be a waste of their limited time together. Akira bites his lip and tries to think of something to say. Nothing especially productive comes to mind.

“Akira-kun… There's something I want to ask you,” Taro says, not a little bit of hesitation in his voice.

Curious. “Go ahead.”

“There's probably no way you haven't already thought about this, but… Have you considered getting psychiatric help?”

Oh, no. Not Taro, too?

“I don't think you know this, but I… I was recently diagnosed with depression, myself. I really didn't want to go on pills for it. I thought I could transcend it through willpower alone. But that's not how it works. The medication has really helped and I wish I had done something about this years ago.”

Akira says nothing.

“Akira-kun… The way you've talked sometimes, I'm pretty sure you have it, too. This isn't a fight you have to face alone. It's okay to get help. Suffering from this isn't a personal failing, like we were always taught. It's a kind of disease. It really is.”

Akira hates this subject. As long as he lives in Japan, he will. Sayaka, Yura, Haru and Risa, they've all attempted tracts like this before, but they simply don't understand the situation in full. Trying to explain it is pointless, too. Utterly futile. But after Taro shared something so delicate, he supposes some sort of response is in order. “Thank you, Tako. I appreciate what you're saying. I really do.”

“But?” Taro prompts.

“But… there's nothing I can do about it right now.”

“How do you know?”

“I looked into the matter thoroughly years ago,” Akira says. “And there really is nothing I can do. Not in this backwards country.”

There's a silence for a short time. Taro finally says, “I have to get going soon. Is there anything you need to get off your chest before then? There's a specific reason you called, isn't there?”

Akira frowns. “You read me like an open book, as always. There was a reason, but… if you have to go soon, there's no point in even starting.”

There’s a faint sound on the other end, perhaps a stifled sigh. “I hear ya.”

“I wish I could just have you to myself for a few hours, face to face. You know? Getting it all out would be easy then.” Suddenly the unthinkable seizes him. “Tako, have you thought about visiting Japan anytime soon?”

The question seems to take his friend aback. “Japan? Honestly, the thought hadn’t occurred to me. I mean, seeing you again would be nice and all, but I have misgivings for obvious reasons.”

“You didn't have misgivings the last time,” Akira notes.

“The last time, my primary reason for being there wasn’t you,” Taro reminds him. His voice is gentle, yet firm.

Akira finally remembers. “Right, right. Your father…” Three or four years ago, Mr. Takanashi came down with terminal illness and Taro, despite hating the man, felt it proper decorum to see him off. There was something very poignant about the gesture.

“Plus,” Taro continues, “when I agreed to that meet-up, I didn't know until after the fact that you’d be keeping me a secret from your wife.”

It's true. Akira knew Sayaka would take it the completely wrong way if he told her he was going to his childhood town to visit… him. So, he simply didn't mention that part, and as far as he knows she never found him out. Understandably, though, Taro disliked being a taboo subject. His attitude was that if Akira was too ashamed, or too scared of the potential backlash, to tell his wife he was seeing an ex-lover in a platonic context, perhaps they shouldn't see each other in person at all. “I'm sorry,” Akira says. “I shouldn't have done that. That wasn't fair to you.” Under his breath, he adds, “Or to her.”

“It's fine, Akira-kun. I'm entirely sympathetic to the why. It's just… you don't need me to make your life more complicated than it already is.”

“But I want to see you again. And I know you want to see me again, too.” Akira feels unexpected passion bursting from within. “I'll tell Sayaka, if you want. Whatever she thinks, it doesn't matter anymore. I won't let her opinion control me. Not ever again.”

There's a silence so long that Akira almost fears the call was disconnected. But, no, Taro is just thinking. At last he says, perfectly calm and composed, “I don't think a visit would be a good idea right now.”

And abruptly, Akira feels himself start to cry. One tear after another, without reprieve. The dry spell that began after his love hotel breakdown is finally over. And what a time for it to end. He mutes the phone to erase his pain. Taro mustn't hear this.

It seems he heard enough, though. “I'm really sorry, Akira-kun. I know it hurts, but you know it's for the best. I wish I could be a better friend to you. If work didn’t demand I be somewhere tonight, I'd--”

Akira can't promise anything on that count. “Take care of yourself, Tako. And I'm sorry about all this.”

“Don't be sorry. Just do what you need to do to make things right.”

I don't know if I can, he wants to say. “Hope everything goes okay. Bye, Tako.”

“Later, Akira-kun. Don’t be a stranger.”

The whole thing to come as soon as I can get it out!

Avatar: Guu is uncertain...Crying Man(Or, How Dr. Katsuragi Found God): Read at AO3 & Discuss Here. Status: First Draft. Chapter 10: Idle Hands released 5/24/2017."Fighting idiocy is like fighting a hydra. Cut off one head, two more grow back and need to tell you their uninformed opinion." - PeeJee, Something*Positive

Man, I think I may need to re-read this entire fanfic again because I have almost forgotten about some major characters, plot points, and etc.....Everything is a blur

The homo-erotic vibes in this story just knocked me off my feet. So Akira has (or had) some latent homosexual tendencies? And a male ex-lover? Did I read that right? If so, talk about SCANDALOUS. I don't see things getting any better for the poor man. I'm SO anticipating Misato's reaction to this mess, if she ever finds out. Poor Akira, I no longer think of him as loser anymore but more like a unhinged, insecure, paranoid adult version of Shin-chan and believe me, that's NOT a compliment!

Yeah, I'd wager Reichu's Akira is somewhere in the high end of the Kinsey scale. Seems to be a big part of why his in-laws don't care for him... must give off a certain gaydar vibe.

Rest In Peace ~ 1978 - 2017"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno